Custom 1957 Chrysler 300C - Big Fins, Bigger Hemi!

Reliving memories and making new ones was the motivation behind Shaen Magan's '57 Chrysler 300C becoming a reality. Shaen had early memories of his uncle owning a brand-new 300C and the impression those tailfins made would forever be burned into his brain. After searching coast to coast, Shaen stumbled onto a likely candidate practically in his backyard. The seller had stalled in his restoration efforts and Shaen was more than willing to take the car off his hands. Once the deal was struck, the Chrysler was hauled a short couple of blocks to Air Tech, who had been building a few other cars for Shaen.

Jim, Jeremy, and Kyle at Air Tech sized up the project (a lengthy endeavor as it's one of the longest American production vehicles) and came up with some ideas that would update the old girl without butchering it much. Their first angle of attack would be updating the chassis to handle today's driving conditions. New brakes and steering were first on the to-do list, so Wilwood binders (six-piston front and four-piston rear) now do the stopping and a modified Chevy 605 power box does the steering. The rest of the suspension is basically stock with the exception of moving the rear leaves inboard of the framerails to make use of all 12 inches of the factory rear wheelwells for some larger rolling stock.

Just mentioning Chrysler and the number 300 in the same sentence brings up the notion of performance and muscle, so the engine in Shaen's '57 would have to hold true to that legacy. He went above and beyond the call and went to Mopar performance and drag-race legend, Dick Landy, for 494 ci of Chrysler Hemi brute force. The 11.0:1 bulletproof bottom end was topped with Mopar Performance aluminum heads and intake and finished off with a 980-cfm Barry Grant carburetor and custom-built headers by Kent Performance. Gathering all the power and transmitting it to the pavement is a beefed 727 automatic trans and a Gear Vendors overdrive unit to soften the gas bill (yeah right!).

When Air Tech transferred their attention to the body the greatest difficulty they encountered was that most of the trim, and even pieces like the door latches, were unique to the very low-production vehicle. The missing or damaged bits and pieces had to be tracked down and cleverly liberated from resto nuts that would cringe at the idea of modifying such a classic. The body was split from the chassis and sent to Custom Concept to work out the bumps and bruises. Rob Fagundes then sprayed a House of Kolors creamcicle combination over the restored body. The paint is set off by replated chrome (a few rare missing parts had to be remade by hand) and a set of polished Intro rollers. The final exterior detail is a one-off custom grille with polished vertical bars that produces a cleaner look than the factory "egg crate" unit.

Because Shaen plans on spending a lot of time cruising with family and friends, the interior was given extra attention by Air Tech, who installed a pair of Lexus 300 (ironic, huh?) front buckets and a handcrafted rear seat with custom center consoles on both top and bottom. Craig Renn Custom Interior applied their handiwork stitching up the passenger compartment and the trunk.With only 29 miles on the clock when these pictures were taken, Shaen informed us, much to our approval, that "this car was built to be a driver, so after this photo shoot it's time to burnout!" Look for this one tearing up the highway near you!

Shaen MaganFresno, California1957 Chrysler 300C

Drivetrain
With all the interest focused on the new factory Hemi, the mighty mill is once again the king of engines and this 494ci fire-breather comes from Mopar royalty. Pentastar performance guru Dick Landy screwed together the mighty elephant that breathes in through Mopar Performance aluminum heads and a Barry Grant 980-cfm carb mounted under a cleaner that mimics the custom grille, both by Air Tech. Handling all the power is a Torqueflite 727 automatic transmission connected to a Gear Vendors overdrive unit and a Currie-built Ford 9-inch rearend.

Chassis
The 18ft frame was found to be in really good shape after it was pulled from underneath the body, so modifications were kept to upgrading what was necessary for maximum behind-the-wheel enjoyment. The stock torsion bar front suspension was rebuilt and reassembled with Wilwood binders and a GM 605 power box. Wilwood discs were added at the rear as well and are activated by a Corvette dual-master cylinder. To get the maximum amount of rubber stuffed into the rear wheelwells, the rear leaves were moved inside the rear rails.

Wheels & Tires
To make sure the finished project was never mistaken for a resto job, Shaen mounted up a set of 18x8 and 20x10 Intro Vista rims and wisely chose some Toyo tires (255/45ZR18 front & 295/45R20 rear) designed for sport trucks that have a decent sidewall to avoid the rubber band look that would have looked out of place on such a large car.

Body & Paint
Chrysler did a really good job designing the '57 300C, so Shaen decided to leave the body completely stock and have Custom Concept (Fresno, California) coat it in an eye-grabbing House of Kolors Tangelo Orange under a Pearl White top. Chrome was refreshed at Clovis Specialty Plating (Fresno, California).

Interior
Lots of work inside as well with the light-gray Scottish leather with good ol' American orange alligator skin inserts by Craig Renn Custom Interior (Clovis, California) covering the Lexus 300 buckets, custom rear seats, door panels, consoles, and trunk. A Billet Specialties wheel tops a Flaming River tilt column, which sits in front of a handmade gauge pod by Air Tech filled with Classic Instruments. Tunes are transmitted via a Kenwood head unit feeding Kicker Audio amps and speakers.